Much like voracious and loyal readers will gobble up any book by their favorite author, there’s certain movies that lure us in purely based on the talent involved. For writer-director Tom McCarthy’s upcoming drama, Spotlight, the cast is arguably its most attractive selling point, followed closely by its increasingly pertinent narrative. Set during the 2001 Catholic Church sexual abuse cover-up, the movie explores the journalists at the center of the story.
The film stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, John Slattery, Brian d’Arcy James and Billy Crudup, most of whom can be witnessed in character in the first image above. All of the lead cast play a key role in the Boston Globe’s investigative team. Spurred on by a quest to seek justice for those sufferers and victims of sexual abuse at the hands of ordained priests, they vow to stop at nothing to uncover the lies covered up by the church.
It’s been a while since a hard-hitting journalism drama has hit the big screen. Could this be this generation’s All The President’s Men? It certainly has the distinct whiff of awards-bait lingering around it – which suggests Spotlight will be an important film to keep your eye out for this year.
In 2001, the Boston Globe began an investigation that would rock the city and shock the world. SPOTLIGHT tells the story of that investigation, the story of Marty Baron (Schreiber), Ben Bradlee Jr. (Slattery) and the four members of the Globe’s investigative Spotlight team – Walter Robinson (Keaton), Mike Rezendes (Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (McAdams) and Matt Carroll (James) – who would sacrifice everything to expose the Boston Archdiocese’s systemic cover up of sexual abuse of children by ordained priests. For years, whispers of scandal were ignored by society, the media, by police and by the legal system. Silenced by shame, victims of sexual abuse often became victims of suicide. For their commitment to truth, the Spotlight team received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
